Lifestyle Changes are a Natural Treatment for Narcolepsy

No small change in lifestyle is going to cure your Narcolepsy; in fact, nothing will. Making a few, small, healthy changes to your lifestyle, however, can help improve the severity of your Narcolepsy case by helping to ease some of the underlying causes and contributing factors of your disorder.

Regulate Medication: If you are on any medications, talk to your doctor about how they may affect your Narcolepsy case. It doesn’t matter if the medication is prescription or over the counter, make sure that it’s not affecting your sleeping habits or making your Narcolepsy symptoms worse; stimulant medications can cause many problems for narcoleptics. The elimination of other drugs like caffeine and alcohol is also recommended.

Psychiatric Therapy: If you’re having a hard time coping with the stresses and challenges that accompany sleep disorders like Narcolepsy, don’t feel alone. Many Americans are struggling with the exact same issue, and some of these patients have found comfort in professional guidance. Talking to a psychiatric professional will help you identify the areas of your life that are being negatively affected by your disorder and eliminate them accordingly.

Exercise: Exercising regularly will help your body produce healthy, natural levels of melatonin and serotonin which help promote healthy sleeping habits. It is important for Narcolepsy to exercise regularly to help their body perform in tip-top shape. Because narcoleptic patients are at a much higher risk of auto-immune diseases, it is important to exercise and keep the immune system as strong as possible. Don’t exercise three to four hours before attempting to go to sleep. Exercising releases hormones in the body that promote energy and alertness; this is fine in the early afternoon, but exercising before bed will cause you to have problems falling asleep.

Relax: Narcolepsy, like any other sleeping disorder, is stressful and overwhelming. Make sure that you make alone time to unwind and relax. Many patients suffering from sleeping troubles enjoy yoga or other forms of meditation and relaxation.

Maintaining Healthy Sleeping Habits as a Natural Treatment for Narcolepsy

If you don’t already have one, establish a strict and scheduled sleeping routine.

When you have a set schedule and cycle of physical actions that take place each night before bed, your brain begins to associate those activities and those movements with sleep.

Every night before you go to sleep, try and complete the same relaxing activity. It doesn’t matter if you take a long, hot bubble bath, or if you read a few chapters from your new favorite book; whatever activity you choose, make sure that it is relaxing and enjoyable so that you are more likely to complete it every single night.

In addition, try your best to go to bed and wake up at the same times each day. Your body’s biological clock will begin to adapt to this schedule, helping you get out of bed refreshed and happy in the morning.

Also, don’t use your bed for anything except sleeping; engaging in other physical activities like watching television or listening to music in your bed will cause your brain to associate your bed with those stimulating activities, and not with healthy, regulated sleep.

Create a healthy and conducive environment that promotes proper sleep. Your bedroom should be dark and quiet, with as little distractions from the outside world as possible. Narcolepsy victims struggle desperately with daytime sleepiness, and the best way to combat daytime sleepiness is to get an ample amount of sleep at night.

If noise is keeping you awake at night, use a fan or air conditioner to create “white noise” that will block out most other sounds.

Sleeping in a room slightly cooler than normal will help the body remain asleep during the night. During sleep, the body temperature drops to its lowest levels; a room that’s slightly cooler than normal mimics the reactions that are taking place in the body, and help prevent changes in temperature from causing arousal.

If you are like most other Narcolepsy patients, you probably find it hard to wake up, and get out of bed in the morning. Natural, bright light is the most powerful form of natural and healthy energy available to us. If you wake up feeling groggy or irritated in the morning because you did not get an ample amount of sleep the night before, get your body into some sunlight ASAP. The bright light of the sun, even on the cloudiest days, is brighter than any indoor light; stepping out into the sun will help wake you up better than any alarm clock or cup of coffee.

Vitamins and Herbal Remedies for Narcolepsy and Natural Treatments

If you are fighting Narcolepsy, it’s important to keep your immune system running in great shape. People with sleeping disorders that experience constant patterns of disrupted sleep are often lacking in the necessary vitamins and minerals necessary to keep the body functioning at its optimal level. Taking daily vitamins or herbal supplements can help correct the poor nutrient levels in your body. Maintaining healthy vitamin levels in the body is one of the best natural remedies for Narcolepsy.

Vitamins:

Calcium

Magnesium

Vitamin B6

Vitamin C

Vitamin D3

Vitamin E

L-Tyrosine

Over-the-Counter Herbal Supplement Formulas:

Melatonin

GABA

Acupuncture for Treating Narcolepsy

What is Acupuncture?

There is a small group of neurons roaming around in the brain that have been delegate the very specific task of regulating the human sleep cycle and our transitions from wakefulness to slumber-slumber to wakefulness. Narcolepsy patients experience problems with the functioning of this tiny, yet imperative group of neurons. People who suffer from Narcolepsy do not have a healthy group of these neurons to control the transitions; some Narcolepsy patients experience have too few of these neurons, and other Narcolepsy patients experience damaged neurons that fail to communicate properly.

How Does Acupuncture treat Narcolepsy?

Acupuncture, a popular form of eastern medicine, is becoming a more popular form of natural treatment for many Narcolepsy victims. Although acupuncture will not cure patients of Narcolepsy, it can help treat and eliminate some of the underlying symptoms or causes. Acupuncture balances in the neurotransmitters in the brain and can help improve the overall chemistry of the brain by inserting needles into various pressure points in the body. The different pressure points that lay directly under the skin are connected to each other; they create various channels of energy. When a body is feeling unhappy, discontent, or even ill, eastern medicine suggests that the ill feeling is coming from an obstruction or blockage of proper energy flow.

The Benefits of Acupuncture as a Natural Treatment for Narcolepsy Patients

Victims of Narcolepsy, specifically, experience disrupted levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, two chemicals in the body that help elevate mood and alertness. By inserting needles into the pressure points that affect these chemically producing regions of the body, the art of acupuncture is used to remove the energetic blockage that is causing your chemical imbalance. This form of traditional eastern medicine has even shown positive effects on the healing process of brain damaged individuals that experienced injury to their nerves or neurons. Acupuncture can even be used to help Narcolepsy patients prevent the development of Cataplexy by strengthening the muscle tone that prevents the rare complications.